On February 12, 1963, the Department of "Safety Engineering and Fire Safety Equipment" was established at BSPI, becoming one of the first in higher education institutions in the republic.
In September 1965, it was renamed to the "Department of Occupational Safety."
The first head of the department was Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor F.A. Bogdanovich. Subsequently, the department was led by Associate Professor N.M. Rykov (from 1979 to 1984), Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor I.V. Zayash (from 1984 to 1999). Since 1999, the head of the department has been Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor A.M. Lazarenkov.
Most of the faculty received their basic education at the Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute in specialties such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and civil engineering.
The department boasts a highly qualified team of instructors who prepare top-tier professionals in disciplines such as "Occupational Safety," "Construction Safety," "Human Life Safety," and "Fire Safety": Dr. Sci. Tech., Professor A.M. Lazarenkov; Ph.D., Associate Professors T.P. Kot, E.F. Panteleenko, I.N. Ushakova, L.P. Filyanovich; Senior Lecturers O.V. Abmetko, G.L. Avtushko, I.A. Batyanovskaya, E.G. Vershenya, M.L. Kalinichenko, E.V. Mordik, Yu.N. Fasevich, T.P. Shrubenko.
The department educates engineering personnel in "Occupational Safety" across all university faculties, delivering lectures, conducting laboratory and practical sessions, administering exams, consulting on "Occupational Safety" sections of diploma projects, and participating in State Examination Commissions (SEC).
The department's educational facilities include five equipped laboratories and a computer class for student knowledge assessment. Annually, these facilities serve approximately 5,000 students for conducting lab work, practical sessions, and advise about 3,500 students on the "Occupational Safety" sections of their diploma projects.
The department has established a laboratory and educational base, published and continuously updates educational and methodological literature for conducting lab sessions, practical work, and assessing coursework by distance learning students, as well as sections on occupational safety in diploma projects.
Faculty members are invited to deliver lectures at the Industry Cadre Training Institute for the professional development of industry leaders and specialists, teachers of technical schools conducting "Occupational Safety" disciplines (RIIT), students from other universities, and industrial safety specialists from enterprises and organizations of the Republic of Belarus.
Over the past 20 years, the department has prepared and published textbooks and teaching aids on "Occupational Safety" for most specialties at BSPI, approved by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, which incorporate current regulatory, legislative, and other documents.
In addition, methodological guides have been developed and published for correspondence students and diploma students of various specialties, taking into account their specifics.
Standard educational programs for "Occupational Safety" have been developed and approved for specialties in construction, energy, mechanical engineering, and metallurgy.
From 1996 to 2016, the department operated a testing laboratory accredited for independence and technical competence in the accreditation system of the Republic of Belarus in accordance with the requirements of STB ISO/IEC 17025. The laboratory conducted studies and instrumental measurements of production environment factors to certify workplaces. Surveys of working conditions and measurements of production factor parameters were conducted at more than 600 enterprises and organizations in the Republic of Belarus.
An ongoing challenge is the training of occupational safety specialists in the Republic of Belarus. Department specialists are engaged by the "Republican Institute for Qualification Enhancement and Retraining of Workers" of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the "Institute for Qualification Enhancement and Retraining of Industry Leaders and Specialists 'Industry Cadre'" of the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Belarus to deliver lectures.
